A commercial car wash requires a large number of window cleaning cloths on a continuing basis. Cleaning cloths used in cleaning windows must be refreshed in accordance with the volume of cars washed. Customers often judge the quality of a car wash by the cleanliness of the windows, as it is one of the most apparent aspects of the car wash.
According to presently used methods, cleaning windows in car washes is accomplished with a spray bottle containing window cleaning solution and a supply of window wiping cloths, terry cloth towels or other towels. These will all be referred to as window wiping cloths. The window cleaning solution is sprayed on the window, and the window is thereafter wiped with a window wiping cloth. Alternatively, the window cleaning solution is sprayed onto a window wiping cloth and the cloth is then used to wipe the window. Sometimes a drying cloth is used to complete the window cleaning process.
These methods of cleaning windows have major disadvantages that the car wash industry has put up with during its entire history. First, windows are often not well cleaned, in large part because the presently used methods tend to leave streaks, smears and smudges on the windows. When the window cleaning solution is sprayed on the window, the distribution of the spray is generally unevenly distributed and the window is rarely completely and uniformly covered with spray. When the cloth is then wiped over the window and window cleaning solution, the cloth absorbs the window cleaning solution but also does so unevenly, such that some areas of the window are thoroughly cleaned and wiped with an adequate amount of window cleaning solution but other areas of the windows are not. Often, the spray application will leave a film on the windows which can sometimes be seen after the windows have been cleaned, especially in sunshine. Also, lines and markings can sometimes be seen where the wiping cloth has been used. The result is that some areas of the windows are not well cleaned, instead having a streaked or smudged appearance. Spraying the window cleaning solution onto the windows also results in some spray settling onto the dashboard or other trim areas of the car adjacent the windows. These areas must then be wiped with the cloth, and may exhibit streaks and smudges in the same way as an incompletely cleaned window.
The situation is not improved by spraying the window cleaning solution directly onto the window wiping cloth before wiping the windows. In this technique, only a few pulses of spray are applied to the window wiping cloth wherein the window wiping cloth does not acquire an even distribution of window cleaning solution. It follows that some areas of the window are not adequately cleaned when wiped with the window wiping cloth and the window cleaning solution, also resulting in a partially cleaned window with streaks and smudges.
In both of the aforesaid methods, the lack of even distribution of the window cleaning solution sometimes leaves areas of the windows with an excess of window cleaning solution that must be removed by subsequent buffing with a dry cloth or towel, increasing the time, effort and labor to clean the windows. This does not necessarily improve the cleaning.
Another major disadvantage of the present methods of cleaning windows in car washes is inefficient use of labor. The window cleaner must carry a minimum of a spray bottle and one cloth, and sometimes must carry two cloths. The window cleaner must then exert time and effort to operate the spray bottle in order to spray window cleaning solution across the expanse of windows to be cleaned, or to spray the window cleaning solution onto the window wiping cloth. The window cleaner must then must perform a second step of wiping the windows after the window cleaning solution has been applied. Often, a third step of wiping with a dry towel is required to remove any excess window cleaning solution on the windows or dashboard. Finally, the labor aspect of the present window cleaning process is exacerbated by a conscientious worker's effort to produce clean windows by spending extra time and effort in the wiping portion of the process.
When the cloths used in window cleaning become dirty, they are washed in a commercial washer-extractor, which is a very heavy duty washing machine with high speed, high G-force extraction capability, generally found on the premises at commercial car washes. These machines have a strong spin capability to remove substantial amounts of rinse water. Gas or electric dryers are also available for drying cleaning cloths and towels; however, the dryers take additional time and use additional energy.
Clearly an improved way of cleaning windows in car washes or other high volume cleaning situations would be a welcome advance in the art.